Excellent end-of-the-world scenario with a flawed ending

Rating: 9/10 (6 March 2005)

Although the plot is very unoriginal, I especially liked this version of the story because of the leisurely pace that sets the mood without letting you get bored. The Director didn't mind relatively long sequences without dialog when it was called for; I'm not sure a Hollywood-made film (this one was made in the U.K. by a U.K. company) would have been willing to do this. Ever since Star Wars the reigning action-movie concept in Hollywood seems to be action every 7 minutes max.
I also liked the cinematography. There were great shots (extremely wide, taken from an unusual angle, etc.) that were unorthodox and in another film would have gotten in the way, but here they helped set the mood of a few people isolated in a huge city.
I imagine it would be an even better experience in the theater, where the larger format and viewer being in the dark would have enhanced the feeling of isolation.
**** SPOILER *** The one flaw is the ending, and unfortunately it is a bid problem. In the penultimate scene, the male protagonist (Jim) is shot in the stomach. Now, even in a modern big city, stomach wounds are very often fatal, and virtually always so without prompt surgery. Not only will the victim bleed to death, but even if the bleeding can somehow be stopped, peritonitis will almost always set in. Nevertheless, without anyone having more than a pharmacist's knowledge of medicine, with no surgical tools, and after a car ride where he would certainly have bled out, Jim survives. The last scene shows him hale and hearty, running over a meadow. I suppose there could be some explanation, but none was given, and it broke me out of my "willing suspension of disbelief."
Nevertheless, I give the film a "9". Definitely worth watching and re-watching.